Blogs from Pelopennese, Greece, Europe

It’s done and dusted, the fat lady has sung, it’s all over…the Menalon Trail has been walked. But that’s the end of the story not the beginning. Shared a meal with the Dutch couple we have been seeing lately. Stayed in the same accommodation, and will do so tonight and obviously walked the same route over the last 3 days. So enough in common to share a table at a very nice taverna in Valtesiniko last night. Julie and I opted for more traditional meals (I had the lamb in lemon again as it’s a proven winner) but the Dutchies had T-bone steak and grilled port which both looked really good. Such options aren’t cheap but they did look good. Good beer and good food in a lovely setting and topped with interesting conversation made for ... read more

No we are not in Valtessiniko as it says above but really we are nowhere! More precisely we are 2 km or so from a village named Nimfasia, which we walked through and saw no-one! We heard some people but saw not a soul. You could have fired a cannon in the village square and only disturbed a cat. The church was deserted and there was no movement at the cemetery! It’s a shame because for a couple of km we have been getting glimpses of the village and it looks good. I’ll drop a couple of photos as I thought it appeared quite ‘magical’. We left Vytina in bright sunshine but with a forecast of thunderstorms. The forecast proved correct, as a couple of hours into the walk the lighting commenced, followed very closely by ... read more

Not really still in Dimitsana, although the first few photos are. We are currently in Elati, a village of only about 15 people (few more on the weekend) so it’s no surprise it doesn’t feature on maps and location entries. It’s cute but after 8 hours walk the last thing we wanted was another 600 metre climb to our homestay. Sampled a boar sausage last night. To absolutely no surprise it came with chips. Julie had the kebabs and pita bread and both were OK but nothing special. The tzatziki was good though, very creamy and plenty of garlic. The beer was really cold and even served in a cold glass so 2 out of 4 ain’t bad. Later went looking for baklava and coffee but couldn’t find any. Greece is in crisis! Breakfast in Dimitsana ... read more

Geography first. Drove over the Corinthian Canal, pretty close to Kalamata, into the Menalon Hills, close to Sparta and … Well how good is that? But we are here in Stemnista, not big enough to register a mention on the app here but big on the lovely scale. Welcomed into our new home, made to feel very welcome, feed via ‘lunch from breakfast’ program that has been instituted on an almost compulsory basis for quite a while. In Greece it works well as in addition to the cheese, meats and pretty good bread you also get some pastries such as spanakopita which travel surprisingly well and eat surprisingly well cold. Getting here was a 2 hour bus from Central Athens to Tripoli then a taxi with Mr Andrianous. The taxi drivers for the village have their ... read more

This posting is more about how we have settled into the daily life in Tolo. We are on our 3rd week and have one more week before heading to Portugal, and we are quite sad to be leaving our little village of Tolo. Our apartment is comfortable, very functional, has nice open spaces and of course the views can't be beat. Other than having just one bathroom, which is not a big deal until we have guests...it has been a perfect landing. The owners check in every few days to see if we are ok, and if we need anything. They offer a cleaning service for $30 for 3 hours, which can't be beat. Clean sheets, towels and a sparkling clean apt...not bad! . We can easily walk down the hill to the village, and of ... read more